Experts React To Study Linking Autism And Increased Flu Deaths

An American paper said flu fatalities were over 10 times higher than otherwise expected among autistic people enrolled in Medicaid.

A study from the University of Minnesota, recently published in JAMA Network Open, found that autistic beneficiaries of free or low-cost health insurance program Medicaid died at 10.5 times the rate expected in comparison groups.

Compared to Medicaid beneficiaries without the condition, autistic recipients’ life expectancy was 5.8 years lower. Flu was the leading cause of this discrepancy.

These findings, however, involved people in a healthcare system very unlike the UK’s. So, we asked Professor Laura Crane, Chair in Autism Studies at the University of Birmingham and Director of the Autism Centre for Education and Research (ACER), as well as Dr Asiya Maula, a GP at The Health Suite, for their thoughts on whether this has any lessons for the UK.

“This is a deeply concerning finding, but it should not be interpreted as proof that autism itself makes influenza ten times more deadly”

Dr Maula said that though this study’s results are “deeply concerning,” she stressed that this doesn’t mean having autism automatically makes flu 10 times as likely to kill people.

And disability isn’t the only factor to consider in the US study, which focused on “autistic Medicaid beneficiaries in the United States, a group that may also experience disability, financial disadvantage,........

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